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ZAGAR SET FOR SPEEDWAY GP SEASON OPENER AS BOLL FIM CROATIAN SPEEDWAY GP WILD CARD
Slovenian former world No.5 Matej Zagar returns to the FIM Speedway Grand Prix stage as the 2024 season launches with the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on April 27.Zagar has been named as wild card for round one of the Speedway GP World Championship series, donning the famous No.16 race jacket, as he takes on the sport’s biggest stars once again at Speedway Stadion Milenium.The Ljubljana-born ace is a popular visitor to the Donji Kraljevec venue, where he topped the podium in both the 2019 and 2020 FIM SGP Challenges staged there to earn his place in the Speedway GP series. While Zagar was eliminated from the Speedway GP World Championship at the end of the 2021 season, he has since appeared in two FIM Croatian Speedway GPs, reaching the semi-finals in 2022.With 128 Speedway GP outings, 1,003 championship points and 23 final appearances to his name, Zagar has built an army of Slovenian fans and regularly brings them across the border to Donji Kraljevec’s biggest events. The five-time Speedway GP winner will be determined to give them a night to remember.Zagar is joined in Croatia by track reserves Matic Ivacic and Marius Hillebrand. Slovenian international Ivacic lines up in the No.17 race jacket, with German youngster Hillebrand at No.18.Boll FIM Croatian Speedway GP local organiser Darija Pavlic looks forward to welcoming the world’s top riders to Speedway Stadium Milenium.She said: “This will be the sixth time Speedway GP has visited Croatia and it’s always a pleasure to host riders and fans from all over the world as we stage the opening round of the championship for the third consecutive year.“We have had some great nights of racing, and I am sure this year will be no exception. Bartosz Zmarzlik has won the past two FIM Croatian Speedway GPs and his rivals will be hungry to stop him winning No.3.“A number of riders and teams have visited us in recent weeks as they get ready for the season and excitement is already building. We thank everyone who makes this event possible and can’t wait to see you in Croatia on April 27.”Tickets for the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on April 27, staged in Donji Kraljevec – close to the Croatian-Hungarian border – are available online. Book your tickets HERE NOW.The Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia will be live on SPTV in Croatia. To find out where you can tune in wherever you are in the world, visit our Where to Watch section HERE.
TWIST THE THROTTLE | WATCH EPISODE THREE: TAKE A BREAK
Watch episode three of Monster Energy's Twist the Throttle series as we go on the road with triple Speedway GP world champion Tai Woffinden and world No.2 Fredrik Lindgren.
KVECH READY TO JOIN MENTOR VACULIK IN SPEEDWAY GP ELITE
Czech racer Jan Kvech looks forward to facing former mentor Martin Vaculik in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series as he becomes his country’s first full-time SGP rider for 16 years.Kvech is the first Czech star to compete regularly in the Speedway GP series since Lukas Dryml raced in the 2008 championship.The opportunity came his way after he finished fifth at the FIM SGP Challenge in Gislaved, Sweden last August. While only the top three riders were due to qualify, runner-up Vaculik finished third in the 2023 Speedway GP standings – vacating a spot in the series. With fourth-placed Robert Lambert also finishing inside the SGP top six, the call-up was handed to Kvech.It’s fitting that Vaculik’s 2023 Speedway GP heroics opened the door for a rider who looked up to the Slovak ace as a youngster.He said: “Martin helped me at the start of my career and now we will be rivals in Speedway GP. It’s amazing for Czech speedway that I am here. It’s a long time since there has been a Czech rider in the Grand Prix. “I am very happy to be here. From the start of my career, I have wanted to be in Speedway GP. This is my dream.“It’s very hard to qualify for the FIM SGP Challenge, and then to qualify for Speedway GP is very hard again. I was a little bit lucky because I was fifth, but Martin and Robert finished in the 2023 top six. I got the chance to be in Speedway GP and that’s amazing for me.“I have no pressure because this is my dream, and I am living it. I have prepared well, and I feel good. I want to say thank you to all of my sponsors and my team. We go together.”Kvech hopes racing regularly in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga for Zielona Gora will help him establish himself among the best riders in the world – as he also takes them on in the planet’s top speedway league.He said: “Last year I was in the First Division, but now I am in the PGE Ekstraliga. I will be in contact with guys from Speedway GP. Racing these rivals in Poland will be good for me because I will always have contact with the best riders in the world. I think I will be looser if I am always competing at this level. It will be good.”Kvech is the first of the SGP2 generation – since the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship was revamped under the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports umbrella in 2022 – to make it into Speedway GP full-time. The Prague racer finished second in the SGP2 series, as well as winning a silver medal in SON2 – the FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship – with the Czech Republic team two years ago.Now his sights are firmly set on Speedway GP success. Kvech said: “I was a little bit unlucky in SGP2 – I wanted to be the winner. I was second. But my dream was to be in Speedway GP. Now I am here. I am very happy with that, and I am doing everything I can to stay in the GP.”
KUBERA COMPLETES HISTORIC TREBLE WITH GOLDEN HELMET WIN
Speedway GP newcomer Dominik Kubera raced into the history books as he won the Polish Golden Helmet in Opole on Monday to complete a rare treble.Kubera became only the sixth rider to secure a complete set of Golden, Silver and Bronze Helmets – national tournaments for senior, under-21 and under-19 riders respectively. He joins Rafal Okoniewski, Piotr Swist, Janusz Kolodziej, Adrian Miedzinski and Maciej Janowski in an exclusive club of triple helmet winners.The Lublin star topped the Golden Helmet podium on 13 points ahead of Czestochowa racer Kacper Woryna, who was second on 11, with former Speedway GP rider Przemyslaw Pawlicki third on 10.Kubera’s fellow Speedway GP full-time debutant Szymon Wozniak took fourth place on nine – a score matched by double SGP2 champion Mateusz Cierniak, former world No.2 Patryk Dudek and four-time Speedway GP world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, whose run of four straight podium finishes came to an end.Victory also saw Kubera book his place in the 2025 Speedway GP qualifiers, as he bids to defend his position in the World Championship.He will battle for a spot at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice on October 4, where the top four riders earn guaranteed berths in next season’s SGP line-up.Kubera is joined in the Speedway GP international qualifiers by Woryna, Pawlicki and Wozniak, with Polish team manager Rafal Dobrucki set to select one final wild card to take the nation’s fifth spot in the rounds.The Golden Helmet also decided Poland’s entrants for the Speedway European Championship qualifiers, with Kubera, Woryna, Pawlicki, Cierniak and Maciej Janowski, who scored eight points in Opole, taking part. Dobrucki also holds one final wild card spot for the SEC rounds.The Poles are already set to be represented in the European series by Janusz Kolodziej and Dudek, who finished third and fourth respectively in the 2023 SEC series, sealing automatic qualification for this year.The four-round SEC series visits Hungarian track Debrecen on June 8, Polish venue Grudziadz on July 20, German circuit Gustrow on August 24 and Chorzow’s iconic Stadion Slaski on September 21. The 2024 SEC champion will be guaranteed a place in the 2025 Speedway GP series.GOLDEN HELMET SCORES: 1. Dominik Kubera 13, 2. Kacper Woryna 11, 3. Przemyslaw Pawlicki 10, 4. Szymon Woźniak 9, 5. Mateusz Cierniak 9, 6. Patryk Dudek 9, 7. Bartosz Zmarzlik 9, 8. Maciej Janowski 8, 9. Piotr Pawlicki 7, 10. Bartosz Smektala 7, 11. Bartlomiej Kowalski 7, 12. Jaroslaw Hampel 6, 13. Grzegorz Zengota 5, 14. Oskar Fajfer 4, 15. Wiktor Przyjemski 4, 16. Tobiasz Musielak 2, 17. Maksym Drabik 0, 18. Krzysztof Buczkowski 0.
WOFFINDEN: CHAMPION TIGERS CAN GO BACK-TO-BACK
Great Britain racer Tai Woffinden insisted “I can’t see why we can’t go back-to-back” as Rowe Motor Oil Premiership side Sheffield bids to retain its championship crown in 2024.Woffinden is due to lead the Tigers into Premiership Knockout Cup action away to Manchester club Belle Vue today and starts a season in the UK for the first time since 2014.Since then, he has enjoyed end-of-season runs with Wolverhampton in 2016 and Sheffield in 2023, playing a part in both lifting the Premiership title, although he missed last year’s play-offs for the Yorkshire club due to injury.Woffy teams up with Aussie brothers Chris and Jack Holder at Owlerton, and they are joined by Josh Pickering, Kyle Howarth, Jason Edwards and Dan Gilkes in a stellar side.There’s no doubt the Tigers will be among the Premiership’s title favourites and Woffy is backing them to be firmly in the race. “I can’t see why we can’t go back-to-back,” he said. “I think that’s just an inner belief that every rider has. We believe we can do it, but we have to go against all the other teams.”Woffinden believes Tigers’ middle order can deliver plenty of scoring support for their stellar top trio.“The boys have plenty of talent,” he said. “We will try to extract as much of that out of them as we can. Picko is a goer. He’s a real goer, and Kyle too. You know you are going to get 110 percent when they are on the track. From a team manager’s point of view, that’s all you can ask for.”Woffinden is delighted to be back in the UK for his first full season for a decade. “It has been a long time since I have done a full season,” he said. “I want to spend a little bit more time at home and see (wife) Faye and the kids a little bit more. Riding in Britain allows me to do that.“The travel to Sweden from the UK since Covid has also been really tough. There are more 6am flights with connections and it makes for a long day of trying to get back to the UK. “I am also trying to re-learn that craft of really getting the little tracks nailed. Sheffield is a great track and I used to hang about there. I lived in Sheffield for a bit, and I have a lot of friends there. I am just looking forward to having some good Thursday nights. Hopefully we still get good crowds like we did last year. When I came over, they got their biggest gate numbers, which is really important for the club to keep that momentum going and keep moving forward.”Woffinden gets his World Championship season underway with the FIM Speedway GP of Croatia in Donji Kraljevec on April 27.
sgp News
05/04/2024
ZAGAR SET FOR SPEEDWAY GP SEASON OPENER AS BOLL FIM CROATIAN SPEEDWAY GP WILD CARD
04/04/2024
TWIST THE THROTTLE | WATCH EPISODE THREE: TAKE A BREAK
03/04/2024
KVECH READY TO JOIN MENTOR VACULIK IN SPEEDWAY GP ELITE
02/04/2024
KUBERA COMPLETES HISTORIC TREBLE WITH GOLDEN HELMET WIN
01/04/2024
WOFFINDEN: CHAMPION TIGERS CAN GO BACK-TO-BACK
31/03/2024
HANCOCK JOINS GORZOW COACHING TEAM
30/03/2024
ZMARZLIK ZOOMS TO EDWARD JANCARZ MEMORIAL MAX
29/03/2024
LIEBMANN READY FOR BRITISH SPEEDWAY TEST
28/03/2024
WOFFINDEN: INJURIES HAVE COST ME
27/03/2024
TWIST THE THROTTLE | WATCH EPISODE TWO: YOUNG BLOOD